A Muslim is Passionately Devoted, Not to Possessions and Wealth, But to Allah

Why is the devotion to wealth and property of people who do not live
by the moral values of the Qur'an in fact great heedlessness that
believers scrupulously avoid?
How do believers use their wealth and possessions on Allah's path?
What secret does our Lord reveal in the Qur'an for believers who
spend all their wealth and assets on Allah's path?
People who do not live by the moral values of the Qur'an suffer
various pains; these people even make the desire to "possess wealth
and property" their greatest aim in life. Allah describes such
people as "trying to outdo one another in wealth" in the Qur'an
(Surat al-Hadid, 20). But this desire is literally a delusion
because it is Allah Who owns everything in the world. People
deceive themselves when they imagine they "own possessions." They
did not personally create the things they imagine they possess, and
they have no power whatsoever to maintain them. Neither can they
prevent them ceasing to exist. Moreover, there is no question of
them "owning" anything; because they themselves are under the
control of Allah, "the king of Mankind" (Surat an-Nas, 2). In the
Qur'an it is revealed that all objects and entities belong to
Allah, our Creator:
"Everything in the heavens and everything on the earth and
everything in between them and everything under the ground belongs
to Him." (Surah Ta Ha, 6)
Believers, who have faith in Allah and attach no undue importance to
the transitory baubles of this world, who know that all things come
from Allah alone and who therefore spend what they have on His path,
may hope for Almighty Allah's mercy and paradise. Since they
prefer the life of the hereafter, which Allah says will last for all
eternity, over the life of this world, it is actually they who are
the wealthy ones.
Believers Fervently Spend Their Assets on Allah's Path
As revealed in the verse "[There are men who are] not distracted by
trade or commerce from the remembrance of Allah and the
establishment of prayer and the payment of alms; fearing a day when
all hearts and eyes will be in turmoil –" (Surat an-Nur, 37) , one
of the things that people today most give themselves over to is
making money and possessing goods and property. Yet in that verse,
Allah reveals that believers must be filled with passion for Him
alone, and that their hearts can only be contented by repeating His
name, and that they fear losing His approval by behaving in any
other way. Believers have a strong desire to give their possessions
to others in need, for the purpose of gaining the approval of
Allah, to whom they are so passionately devoted. Another verse
reveals how all wealth belongs to Allah alone:
"Spend in the Way of Allah. Do not cast yourselves into
destruction. And do good: Allah loves good-doers." (Surat
al-Baqara, 195)
Someone who thinks by the light of his own criteria thinks that he
will become wealthier by not sharing his possessions with anyone and
hiding and hoarding them, and that this is the only way he can
guarantee his own future. He believes that anything he gives away –
even if he has no need of it – will make him poorer, and that
anything he loses now will endanger his future comfort. But things
are not at all as he imagines. Allah reveals in the Qur'an, as a
miracle, that a person who spends on His path and who gives alms
will acquire greater possessions and abundance.
But someone who analyzes events only by external criteria may
easily be deceived by this deception of satan's. For example, he may
be about to give his shirt to someone in need when satan whispers
that if he does so, he will have to go without it, that he may need
it one day, and that it would be better to hold onto it. And
indeed, it would appear on the surface that he would be deprived of
a shirt, but if he forgets that Allah bestows many times over on
whom He wishes, on who has much purity, then he has fallen into
heedlessness. Indeed, Allah tells us in one verse that:
"The metaphor of those who spend their wealth in the Way of Allah is
that of a grain which produces seven ears; in every ear there are a
hundred grains." (Surat al-Baqara, 261)
The example in the verse is a secret revealed by Almighty Allah to
believers in the Qur'an. For that reason, believers spend solely in
order to win Allah's good pleasure, mercy, paradise and abundance.
So long as they expend their goods and possessions on Allah's path
and are careful about what is lawful and unlawful, Almighty Allah
will increase their wealth, smooth their way and create many more
opportunities for them to spend on His path. Every believer
experiences this secret in his own life, by having no fears for the
future, fearing Allah and keeping to His bounds. In this way, he
receives the reward for spending on Allah's path, and also further
abundance.
Therefore, someone who turns a deaf ear to the deceptions of satan's
and gives to those in need is actually behaving in the best way for
himself. He receives the reward for spending on Allah's path, and
also further abundance.
On the other hand, the believer's aim in giving is not to obtain
more for himself, because what counts is the pure intention behind
that giving. Therefore, it is the fact that this obligation is
performed with a love of Allah, with sincerity , expecting no reward
and with pure intentions that validates it in the Sight of Allah.
Another example Allah gives in the Qur'an on this subject is:
" The metaphor of those who spend their wealth, desiring the
pleasure of Allah and firmness for themselves, is that of a garden
on a hillside. When heavy rain falls on it, it doubles its produce;
and if heavy rain does not fall, there is dew. Allah sees what you
do. (Surat al-Baqara, 265)
Believers Regard Assets As a Means by Which to Give Thanks and Draw
Closer to Allah
A believer's interest in having possessions stems from his regarding
this blessing as an instrument for giving thanks to and drawing
closer to Allah. This is a natural state of mind stemming from a
passionate love of Allah and is acquired through fervent faith,
reason, depth, altruism and lofty moral virtues. The Qur'an cites
this example of this superior morality possessed by believers:
"We gave David Solomon. What an excellent servant! He truly turned
to his Lord.
When swift horses, champing at the bit, were displayed before him
in the afternoon,
he said, 'I have put the love of good things above the remembrance
of my Lord until the sun disappeared behind its veil.
Return them to me!' And he set about slashing through their shanks
and necks." (Surah Sad, 30-33)
As can be seen from these verses, it is love of Allah and the
intention of remembering Him that lie at the root of believers'
love of possessions. As in the example of the Prophet Solomon
(pbuh), only believers who love Allah with a passion can understand
the deep joy that His servants who regard possessions as simply a
means of giving thanks to Allah for His blessings, experience from
fulfilling this obligation.
Why Does Accumulating Possessions Benefit One Nothing?
As manifested in the name, Ganiy, Almighty Allah is He Who needs
nothing. It is therefore a grave error to be parsimonious and
accumulate possessions out of a fear of the future inspired by
satan. As is said in the verse "Every self will taste death…" (Surat
al'Ankabut, 57) Allah says, everyone must one day die and be unable
to take anything with them, not even their own bodies. It is
therefore of no use to accumulate and hoard possessions in order to
satisfy earthly greed. On the Day of Reckoning, everyone will have
to give account alone, in the Sight of Allah. Everyone will be
asked about his faith, and wealth and possessions in this world
will be of no use to him at all. This fact is revealed as follows
in another verse from the Qur'an:
"As for those who do not believe, their wealth and children will not
help them against Allah in any way. They are the Companions of the
Fire, remaining in it timelessly, for ever." (Surah Al-'Imran, 116)